Chapter 466: Bidding Wars and a System Surprise

Joshua rushed to bid on the skill before someone else got it and when he realized that there were still several people bidding on it he knew he was going to have a hard time getting it without spending a lot of money. The bidding had just started for the Vengeance skill so there was about an hour or so before the bidding would close which meant the price was going to be driven up a lot based off of the amount of people that were currently looking at it. The skill was useful for tanks which meant it was worth even more than your regular skill since tanks played a major role in all explorations. Giving a tank another way to control the flow of battle was just too important to pass up.

While the skill was great for tanks it was even more useful for someone like Joshua. The abilities Joshua already had would make the skill even better. Vengeance worked off of taking damage so it would often be used in scenarios where tanks had to hold off enemies while the rest of the group continued to try to take down the enemies that the tank would be holding off. When the skill charged up enough from all of the damage that the tank would take it would give the tank an opportunity to do massive damage to a beast that could end up being a finishing blow.

The downside of this skill was that you had to take damage in order to use it effectively and the more damage you took the stronger it would be. Even though tanks were meant to take the brunt of attacks from enemies they could still be killed from trying to do too much, luckily healers were around to keep them in top condition and the skill didn't require staying injured to maintain the stored energy. In one on one combat this would be a major drawback since there would be no healers around to recover the damage that the tank would take to store up energy for the skill.

The main reason this was the perfect skill for someone like Joshua was simply because he is a tank that can heal himself. His regenerative abilities allow his body to take a beating while still recovering quickly during battle. Joshua's aura also helps out a lot since it might reduce the amount of damage he takes from attacks, but that wouldn't affect the amount of energy being stored from the attack for the vengeance skill. Joshua already fights with a style that revolves around taking blows so that he could get in effective counters with his scale blade and this skill would only empower that even more.

The drawback that was there for other tanks when it came to this skill wouldn't be there for Joshua and he was loving that fact. The skill would be perfect for the upcoming tournament as well since he was certain that he'd end up blocking a lot of powerful attacks with his scale blade and aura which would only empower this skill. He could use the powerful active effect of the skill as a trump card when caught in a tight spot and it would be hard to expect since it basically could unleash on a regular attack or a powerful skill.

The other thing Joshua loved about this skill was its potential after he started leveling it up for future encounters. At the start the skill already unleashed fifty percent of the damage you would take while storing up from your enemy's attacks and that was only at the first level. One thing Joshua had noticed while looking through several skills was the fact that damage based skills would always add the same amount of percentage as the starting point with each level up. So when it came to his echo strike it would start at twenty percent, the next level would go up to forty percent, then after that sixty percent and would keep going until you maxed it out at a hundred percent damage.

With that concept in mind this skill started already at fifty percent which was useful from the get go without even having to level it up anymore. After it levels up that damage percent would go up to a hundred percent and with each level up it would continue to go with the same intervals and eventually end up at two hundred and fifty percent which was enormous compared to all of the other skills Joshua had seen up to this point. Such a trump card would be useful no matter what he was fighting against especially with his capabilities as a tank.

While Joshua was thinking about the benefits this skill could have for him he noticed that the bidding over the skill was going crazy. At the moment there were over twenty people biding on the skill and the number of people joining in was only going up higher and higher. The more people that joined the bidding the more expensive the skill was becoming and with the current situation there was nothing Joshua could do about it. He was lucky that the skill was currently up on the local auction instead of the international one or things could get even more out of hand.

Joshua didn't really need to worry about the price since he knew he had far more than enough money to spare with all the system points he had gained by this point after clearing so many dungeons, but it was still annoying to see the price getting driven up more and more constantly without being able to do anything about it. This skill was put up without a buyout price so Joshua wasn't able to just throw a bunch of system points at it from the get go and take the skill while everyone else was playing around with the auction for it. At this point the skill had already doubled the amount the other two skills had cost combined and the price just continued to go up.

Eventually Joshua was able to smile in relief as he saw several people start to get cold feet and stop biding on the skill as the price was getting out of there self-thought out price ranges. There were still a few people fighting for it with Joshua, but by the small amounts they were increasing their bids it was clear that Joshua was willing to go a lot further than any of them were willing to push it. Joshua could have dumped a large amount at the start of the bidding war, but if he had done that it would have likely gained the attention of other big spenders more so than the small increases that the skill was going up by at the moment.

When the biding closed Joshua was happy to get the skill and couldn't stop smiling as it was placed in his inventory by the system right away. He had already gained two decent skills and a great trump card for the upcoming tournament, so there wasn't much else that Joshua was looking for in the auction house. He did stick around for a while to see if anything else interesting would come up for him to try to bid on, but he spent most of his time just thinking of different ways he could use all of the new skills he had gained in actual combat. He knew that the first two skills he had gotten wouldn't be all that useful in the tournament, but Joshua was not expecting to get challenged at all in the earlier portion of the tournament with the way it was set up. He wasn't even sure if he was going to need to use his weapons early on.

There was one issue that Joshua had now and that was how exactly he was supposed to get used to using the new skills before the tournament. He couldn't go out and fight beast down on earth since that would go against the rules of the tournament after having already registered. That was the most obvious way to get accustomed to new skills so it was annoying that he couldn't do things that way. Another way he could go about it would be to spar against someone else he knew, but outside of his father everyone else he'd have a decent time sparring against planned on joining the tournament and he didn't want to give away his new trump card just by sparring against someone trying to test them out. That would make all of his work to get a trump card pointless.

While Joshua was thinking about these things it seemed as if the system had come up with something to solve his problems at the perfect time since a sudden announcement was made for everyone in the hub city to see. It was similar to the announcement that was made for the upcoming tournament and the entertainment district. It was something Joshua wasn't expecting but was glad to see.

[System announcement: With the tournament coming up in three days' time and several people already signed up the system has unlocked another portion of the training hall that can be used in preparation for the tournament. Although the training hall was originally made for young explorers to learn and adjust before going out into the world a new portion of the facility has been set up. In this training area you can go into simulation matches against any and all beast that have been discovered by you along with beast that are uploaded to the system for public use by other explorers.]

Joshua had to stop there while reading through the message as a big smile spread across his face. This was the perfect way for him to test out his new skills and get accustomed to fighting with the new stats he had gained while exploring through the prairie. It was the best of both worlds, but the message didn't end there.

[For those who have private training areas that are connected to the hub city you can spend a certain amount of system points to have the same new feature of the training hall be a part of your private training area.]

The moment that last little part was added to the system message Joshua was already up and heading out of the auction house. There wasn't much else that he was looking for there and now he had the perfect way to train for the next three days before the tournament. He was looking forward to checking out this new option that the system was providing and seeing just how much he could do with it.